Student Council Proposal FAQ’s

Once all nominations for student representatives are in, the Student Council can choose to either accept all nomi- nated student representatives or run an election within the level and pathway with the cooperation of the relevant tutor. Elections will only be held where there are too many nominations for available posts.

How long is someone a student representative for?

If a student representative continue to meet the requirements for their role they will remain a representative for the 2 or 3 years of their course – but they can choose to step-down from the role each year. In most cases senior representatives will continue to act as student representatives for their designated course.

What happens if a student representative or senior representative doesn’t do their job?

The Student Council will be able to hold a vote to replace them with new representatives if someone is not attend- ing the meetings they agreed to attend or is not representing the students on their course.

Why is there no proposal for a Students Union?

Student Representatives didn’t want to create a separate students union, choosing instead a Student Council to represent the views of students on different topics. They felt this was the right choice for the size and different campuses of ACM as it would mean sharing the job of student leadership across more students and enable the Student Council to influence more areas of the student experience at ACM.

Will there be a Student President/Leader?

No – in the work current representatives did to design a new system, they opted to have a leadership team model. This is because everyone will be essentially a volunteer and they felt it was best for volunteers to share the lead- ership responsibility rather than give that job to just one student.

The senior representative roles will include representatives from the 5 Pathways and Further Education, with at least one representative from ACM London and ACM Birmingham respectively. These senior representatives will manage and chair the Student Council and each have specific areas they will work on including education and student welfare.

The Student Council may also decide to name senior representatives to help inform the work of the Students Union/Riverside Cafe, student-led events and any new student societies or volunteer opportunities. These senior student representatives will focus primarily on those areas and also be part of the student leadership team.

What will this cost?

If there is a ‘Yes’ vote in the student vote – a paper will presented to ACM’s Education Executive requesting the resources to run all the activity in the proposal. It will include the outcome of the student vote and the benefits it would bring ACM as a whole. This will include any reward and recognition for student representatives. There will be no cost for students.

I don’t want to be a student representative. How can I get involved in the Student Council?

Once Student Council is in place they will decide how they will engage other students. As the proposal says, they must arrange forums for all students, facilitate the ‘Question Time’ events with ACM senior leaders, and regularly gather feedback and report back to students on what has changed as a result. The Student Council should also ensure the referendum proposal is used regularly to give all students the opportunity to voice their opinion on issues and give the Student Council a better view of student opinion.

What is the timeline for taking this forward in the event of a ‘Yes’ Vote?

June

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Proposal for new representative system and student leadership system goes to relevant ACM Committees for approval/allocation of resources.

Current Student Representatives asked to express their interest in being the senior representatives for the new Student Council

July

Student Council meets for the first time to approve new senior representatives and plan for Council for 2019-20

September – Freshers week and Week 1

ACM publicises the new student representative system to all students and staff. Students and Staff can nominate new student representatives.

End of September

Nominations for new student representatives close. Student Council meets to accept the representative nominations and decide if elections or further recruitment are needed.

October

Any elections for student representatives are held in relevant classes.

October Reading week

New All-ACM Student Council meets including each campus student council. Student Representatives get training and make plans for activity for the year.

You can go to Canvas to cast your vote between Monday May 20 and 13:00 on Friday 31 May here: Cast your vote NOW!

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